Jewish leaders urge vigilance after B.C. terror revelations

A couple who plotted to bomb the B.C. Legislature, pictured, also planned to kill Jewish children at a synagogue.

Canadian Jewish leaders are urging their community to be vigilant after a security scare at a Thornhill shul last week and the release of court documents that revealed a couple convicted of plotting to bomb the British Columbia legislature had also planned to join a shul, gain its’ congregants trust and kill Jewish children.

Earlier this week, police notes were presented in British Columbia’s Supreme Court in Vancouver that recounted John Nuttall telling an undercover officer that his wife, Amanda Korody, thought she would be doing Jewish children a favour by killing them, since she believed “grownup Jews” would go to “eternal hell” when they die, the Victoria Times- Colonist reported.

According to a note from March 2013 by an undercover Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer, Nuttall said he and his wife expected to gain access to Jewish children by becoming regulars at a synagogue.

“He said [he and his wife] were both white and could pass for Jewish… They will be regulars in the synagogue. They will gain the trust of everybody. And once they have everything they will get enough guns and ammo to go ahead with their mission,” the note read.

Earlier this year, Nuttall and Korody, self-described Muslim converts, were found guilty of planning to detonate homemade bombs at the B.C. legislature during Canada Day celebrations.

Last week, York Regional Police were called to investigate an incident that involved three men who appeared to be taking pictures of the perimeter of the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto (BAYT) Congregation in Thornhill.

A shul security guard reported the men were wearing hoodies that concealed their faces, and when they were approached, they sped off in their car, yelling “F— Jews” as they drove away.

Avi Benlolo, president and CEO of Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies, said incidents like these are alarming, but not surprising.

“The obsessive-compulsive targeting of Israel by Canadian unions, student groups and church leaders has contributed to a frightening increase in anti-Jewish hate, which is filtering down to all levels of society,” Benlolo said.

“It is simply unacceptable that synagogues must be turned into armed fortresses, and that Jewish children are targets for radicalized individuals. Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center has, for years, been warning our political and civic leaders about the dangers of permitting anti-Semitic rants and propaganda to go unchecked in our public spaces and academic institutions. We are now beginning to see the results of this hateful indoctrination, and urge all our elected officials to take immediate steps to speak out against this frightening maelstrom of hate before a tragedy occurs.”

Shimon Fogel, CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), said the recent revelations in the case against the couple in B.C. are “particularly unsettling, and testify to an evil that exists at the extreme margins of society.”

“While Canada is generally safe, the Jewish community is an at-risk community with unique security requirements. This is why CIJA has a comprehensive approach to enhancing community security,” Fogel said.

“This includes practical security support for local federations and Jewish facilities, lobbying efforts at the federal level to obtain security funding for the community and effective legislation, and co-operation with our partners internationally to share best practices and knowledge of threat trends.”

In a statement released to the wider Jewish community following the incident at the BAYT, CIJA detailed a number of training and support programs that are available to Jewish institutions that want to ramp up its security.

“We conduct, at no charge, comprehensive on-site security assessments of Jewish facilities across the country… CIJA lobbies government to enhance community security, not only through hate crime and anti-terror legislation but also via the [federally funded] Security Infrastructure Program (SIP), which provides institutions with funding to upgrade their security systems,” the statement said, adding that in preparation of the High Holidays, CIJA will be providing Jewish institutions’ private security guards and volunteers with additional security training.